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John Wick is truly the little action franchise that could. Nearly being shut down just weeks before filming and narrowly avoiding languishing in VOD hell, directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski revitalized the entire action genre with their tale of the titular retired hitman, Jardani Jovanovich/ Jonathan “John” Wick (Keanu Reeves) going on the warpath over the senseless murder of his dog.
Leitch cashed in on the pedigree of the first film, going on to direct such films as Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train. Chad Stahelski, meanwhile, stayed the course, building out John Wick into so much more. Filled to the brim with intriguing lore and face-melting action sequences, both John Wick: Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 – Parabellum are in a class of their own in the action genre. Surely, there is no way they could be topped. Alas, John Wick: Chapter 4 is not only the best of the series, but the zenith of modern Hollywood action cinema.
Where We Begin
Some time has passed since Parabellum. After the week or so from hell that occurred in the preceding trilogy, retired-then-unretired master assassin (Reeves) is back to his full power. And he is pissed. Ready to take aim at the High Table, the governing body of a vast network of assassins bound by a set of esoteric rules, Wick’s task to end their rule hits a snag as High Table leader, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), keeps raising the bounty on Wick’s head. Wick’s former associate Winston Scott (Ian McShane), the manager of New York’s Continental Hotel for assassins, offers him a chance at salvation: challenging the Marquis to single combat at his chateau in Paris. The catch? He will have to survive his globe-trotting trek there.
There was some trepidation when series creator Derek Kolstad declined to return to write this entry. Nonetheless, John Wick: Chapter 4’s story doesn’t miss a beat. It takes the already established lore, piles on new nuggets—such as the existence of a “tracker” called Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), who is waiting till the bounty swells to a high enough price for him to claim the biggest prize on Wick’s head; the High Table’s sworn assassins led by Wick’s blind friend Caine (Donnie Yen); or more backstory on Wick’s family—and then wraps it in a good old fashioned revenge narrative.
For the past two movies, John Wick has been on the offensive. Now, he is the one doing the hunting. Chapter 4 might as well be called “John Wick’s World Tour”, as he ascends through every nook and cranny of the assassin world, dispatching hundreds to get to his ultimate target.
Outstanding Performances & Direction
There is a sense of finality to John Wick: Chapter 4, which is smart because it is hard to see what else there is to do with the series after this one so thoroughly answers every relevant question about this world and Wick’s journey. Writers Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Army of the Dead, Army of Thieves, Ballerina, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, Rebel Moon) and Michael Finch (Predators, American Assassin) take to this task with gusto.
Reeves pours his all into the titular character once again, supplementing his character’s simultaneously brutish and precise physicality with deep sadness and exhaustion without which the action sequences would hardly matter. Series veterans Ian McShane, the late, great Lance Reddick (Godzilla vs. Kong) as the Concierge, and Laurence Fishburne’s return as the scenery-chewing Bowery King are all welcome presences. Without a doubt, though, the spotlight goes to the colorful new cast of supporting characters.
Newbies to the John Wick Franchise
Bill Skarsgård gives his best sneering baddie in the Marquis, making for just the right brand of buttoned-up 1% that you want to see Wick give his due. Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat, Army of the Dead), the legend that he is, does a great job as the manager of the Osaka Continental. Musician Rina Sawayama explodes onto the scene as his daughter/this Continental’s concierge, bringing effortless style into the action sequences that deserve to make her a mainstay in this genre for a long time.
Mr. Nobody offers a nice wildcard character. Yet, another legend, Donnie Yen (Ip Man series, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), is an absurdly badass mirror of Wick. As Caine, he shows the protagonist the path he might have gone down if he had submitted to the Table. My personal favorite, though, is Scott Adkins as Killa, a grotesque High Table leader of wide-eyed intensity and euphoric bloodletting.
It hardly even registers that a character actor as beloved as Clancy Brown makes an appearance. John Wick: Chapter 4 is that stuffed. Sometimes, that can be to the film’s detriment. Before the release of 4, the idea was that Chapter 4 and 5 would be shot back-to-back. It appears instead as if the two films have been condensed into one film. While that results in a movie that is never for any point boring, it results in one that is exhausting, that is, without a traditional three-act structure. You are in for a journey, an epic even, which is great! However, sometimes, you can see the natural conclusion of one story not so smoothly segue into the beginning of another. Put yourself in the hands of the madman Chad Stahelski, give in, and those problems will melt away.
Some Technical Greatness
Shot once again by the incomparable Dan Laustsen, John Wick: Chapter 4 could very well have the best action sequences put into American film. And that is no exaggeration. Part of that is the locales. Take for example the neon-lit, multi-level Osaka Continental. Then there is the stunt choreography. Using Osaka as another example, different weapons are traded in and out, Wick and Sawayama’s character display their own unique brands of combat against very different enemy types. And mostly, these sequences get to play long. By my estimation, no action sequence runs less than 15 minutes.
When the action is that good, that is a blessing. Stahelski becomes an action god amongst other action directors with his work in this film. The Osaka set-piece and a side quest of sorts that culminates in a massive club brawl that is the first film’s nightclub shootout on an exponentially larger scale. That is to say, nothing short of a marathon of action sequences in the third act includes, but is not limited to, a roundabout cover-based exchanging of bullets, a top-down breach through an apartment complex with a flaming shotgun, and an endless fight up an endless flight of stairs.
That the film’s conclusion is a relatively smaller-scale confrontation is no matter; it is earned by that point. Watching the action in John Wick: Chapter 4 feels like ascending to a higher plane. Any other director would work their whole career to nail even one of the sequences that Stahelski pulls off with grace.
Final Thoughts on John Wick: Chapter 4
John Wick: Chapter 4 may be a flawed masterpiece in some areas, but it is a masterpiece nonetheless. Ostensibly concluding a saga nearly 10 years running, it amps up the action, colorful characters, and overall technical proficiency to an absurd level. This is the kind of film historians of Hollywood action cinema will be writing about for decades to come. What started as a surprise revival of Keanu Reeves’s career became something so much grander, and we are lucky to exist in the same universe as it.
Rating: 10/10
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This article was edited by John Tangalin.